Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki, they are rightfully belonged to Kazuya Minekura. ^_^
Pairing(s): Sanzo/Goku, hinted Gojyo/Hakkai.
Warning: Some foul languages, OOC-ness, shounen ai.
Summary: The rule of a monk is to be a vegetarian, never to kill, gamble and love. Goku found out about it just as he was about to confess his love for his keeper, Sanzo. Innocently forgetting Sanzo did not ever obeyed the rules at all, Goku started hesitating about whether to confess or not.
Being In Love+++
Chapter Five"Explain yourself, Sanzo-sama!" The elder demanded.
The elder, who had caught Sanzo and Goku in between their making out, was very furious about their act. He had demanded them to talk in his office and here they are, standing in front of the elder's desk, being asked about their relationship. Goku was feeling very guilty and also too embarrassed to talk since he never imagine the elder had such a bad timing to walk into them. Sanzo, on the other hand, was staying calm and cool.
"As you saw us just now, that already explains everything." Sanzo calmly replied while casting worried glance over at his young lover, who was very quiet and fear was written in his face. Then he turned back to the elder and said, "If that's all you wanted to know, please excuse us."
Slamming the table in anger, the elder stood and pointed to Goku, "I always thought that the other monks are picking on Goku and I always take whatever they said as rumors but I never expected them to be true!" Taking in a deep breath, the elder stop before he shouted; "He's truly a brat who only cause troubles in the temple ground and leads you, Sanzo-sama, to fall into a forbidden relationship with him. If he stays on, he'd only roused up more troubles. I had made up on my mind; I shall banish him out of the temple, no questions ask!"
Goku snapped his head up and stared at the elder in shock.
The elder ignored Goku and turned to Sanzo, "As for you, Sanzo-sama; you are to face the punishment for breaking the rules?!"
Another silence hung around the air after the elder finished his sentence.
Glaring dangerously at the elder, Sanzo hissed, "Punish me? What gives you the right to?"
"As a monk, you should know the rules and the punishment for breaking them. As for me, an elder of the temple, shall go by the book even if you're higher ranking than I am." The elder explained coldly. "Or do you need me to gather all the elder monks from around Togenkyo to speak up?"
Sanzo said nothing. He knew that he had no power against all the elder monks around Togenkyo, but that doesn't mean he could let Goku live out alone. He should have just carried out his plan on leaving earlier or this would never have happened. Blaming himself mentally, Sanzo thought of something to talk back to the elder but Goku speaks up all of a sudden, surprising Sanzo.
"If I leave… " Goku started. He was serious as he talked. "If I leave, will you spare Sanzo from taking the punishment?"
Turning to Goku, the elder hesitated for a while and then he nodded, "Maybe I'd reconsider about punishing Sanzo-sama, if this is your last request before leaving the temple. Since you are mostly the root of all the chaos in the temple. You're an unholy brat who had damage the temple's name and guided Sanzo-sama to break the rule of the monk. If you'd leave, than I guess everything would be back to normal."
"That's not true, damn it!" Sanzo protested. He was getting really angry now. How can the elder insulted Goku like that? Goku had his reputation and dignity to keep. How can he have said such untrue words to him? Lunging forward and grabbed hold of the elder's collar, Sanzo glared and angrily demanded, "Take back what you just said! Idiot! Or I--!!"
"Stop it, Sanzo!" Goku shouted. Sanzo did stop threatening the elder and look back at Goku, who was now walking towards the door. Goku turned back to Sanzo and faking out a small smile, "I'll leave," Goku said shortly. Letting out a deep sigh, Goku bowed slightly and said, "I thank you for taking care of me throughout the years and apologized for my mistakes." Eyes not meeting Sanzo's, Goku turned back to the door and murmured, "I'll go pack my stuffs… "
With that, Goku left the room and closed the door of the elder's office. Sighing, Goku walked towards Sanzo's room to pack all his stuffs there. Just as he was in, he closed the door of Sanzo's room and sighed sadly, leaning against the door.
Tears started forming and streaming down Goku's face as he tried to hold them back when he was back in the elder's office. Lifting his hand to brush away his tears, Goku shook aside his sorrows for now as he strode towards the dresser to get all his clothes out. Spreading a cloth over the table, Goku packed all his clothes and other belongings in the middle of the cloth before he bundle them all up. Picking it up, Goku head for the door and left the room, heading for the exit of the temple.
'I guess… I'm too naïve as to think that others might actually accept us as who we are… As who I am… ' Goku thought solemnly.***
Meanwhile…
Back to the elder's office, Sanzo took out a sutra from his sleeve and took off his formal sutra from his shoulders and placed it on the elder's desk before he turned to the door. "If Goku's leaving, I'm leaving too. Here's the Holy sutra and the Evil sutra, I won't need it anymore since I'm no longer the Sanzo. Take it and give them back to the 'Three Aspects'. Tell them I quit being a Sanzo from today onwards!"
Sanzo stepped out of the office, just in time to catch a glimpse of Goku at the entrance of the temple, about to leave. As he was about to run after Goku, a hand on his wrist held Sanzo back.
"Now what do you want!?" Sanzo yelled at the elder who had stopped him from going after Goku.
"This is for your own good, Sanzo-sama. I know Goku had no evil attempts but if he stays on, you'd really fall into a deeper forbidden love with him. So I begged of you, please don't go after him anymore." The elder reasoned. "I believed that Goku wanted you to be safe or he wouldn't have choose to leave and even hope that you'd be freed of punishment before he left."
"Shut up!" Sanzo suddenly shouted to the elder. "You don't know how much Goku had sacrificed just to help and save me that was why you said something like that! Since I freed him, he tolerated me! Even if I'm cold and heartless towards him, he never really mind and tried to annoy me to get my attention! He tried lots of ways to break through the barrier I build around myself for years!!"
The elder was speechless.
"He gives me a lot but I haven't give him anything!" Sanzo clenched his hands into tight fists. "Trust, loyalty and faith; he shows me that every single day of our life, without any tinge of distrust and lost of faith even when I was so harsh on him, hit him everyday, shouts at him, call him names and even push him away! He had tolerated me for way too long; it's time for me to wake up already. I learnt that I should put behind my past and look at what I must cherish now... "
Pulling his wrist free from the elder's hold, Sanzo glared at him one last time before he turned his back on him, walking towards the entrance of the temple. Just as he goes, he finished, "To me, Goku is like an angel who shines my life with light and… Love… An angel who tries to save my life when I'm in danger… Protect me throughout the journey and ended up he's the one who gets hurt. If I lose him now, I'd regret for the rest of my life!"
Staring at the retreating back of Sanzo, the elder sighed tiredly and turned back to his office. "Love is truly selfish… " Shaking his head, the elder closed the door to his office and stared outside the window, sighing yet again before he murmured, "Love really does conquers all… "
***
'Goku! Where are you!?' Sanzo thought to himself, running around town like he did last week, searching for same person in town. 'Where could you have gone!? Goku!!'
Asking around and running to places where Goku was likely to be when he's upset, Sanzo's search for his young lover was harder than he thinks. Almost the whole town was thoroughly searched but there is still no sign of Goku's whereabouts. He had even asked the kids who had played with Goku but they haven't him since a few hours ago when they were playing happily. He went to the riverside but Goku was not there like he does when he went looking for him a week ago.
'Goku, where the hell did you go?' Sanzo thought, running another round in town to look for Goku. After he had done that, Sanzo stopped for breath since he had been running around endlessly for nearly two hours of search. All of a sudden, a thought came to mind. If Goku wasn't in town, then there's only one place he would go.
With a deep breath, Sanzo started running again and left the town, off to a 'kappa's' house where he was sure Goku could've gone to.
***
"Arigato." Goku thanked Hakkai who had served him with a cup of hot cocoa. The day falls dark and the rain came pouring after Goku arrived at Gojyo's place. Gojyo was out so only Hakkai and Hakuryu were at home. Goku actually did walked pass Sanzo in town but neither of them knew about it since Sanzo was in such a rush.
"So what are you planning to do then?" asked Hakkai, worriedly.
"I don't know… There's no place I could go… " Goku replied.
"Why not stay here with us? I believe Gojyo would not mind." Hakkai offered.
Shaking his head side to side, Goku smiled slightly at Hakkai and said, "Nah, this place is already very small for the both of you, and Hakuryu. It's not a good ideal anyway."
"Goku, we don't mind." Hakkai insisted.
"Kyu, kyu~" Hakuryu agreed, nuzzling Goku's face.
"Even Hakuryu agrees." Hakkai smiled.
"Thanks, Hakkai, Hakuryu. It's really okay. I won't squeezed in with you guys since it is really too small to add another. I'll rent a place to stay. I got some money with me anyway." Goku chirped in nonchalance even though he was hurt inside. Hurt for leaving Sanzo, that is. "I told Sanzo before that I'd be independent one day. Now is my chance to prove to myself that I can independent."
"Since you're so determined, than I guess no one can change your mind." Hakkai sighed in defeat on asking Goku to stay. He looks back on Goku and demanded calmly, "But I must insist you to stay for today."
"Hai." Goku nodded.
"Good, now I'll go and make dinner." Hakkai went into the kitchen cheerfully.
"Damn it, why does it have to rain so heavily?" a grunt came from the door.
Goku looked to the door and in came the owner of the apartment. Staring at Goku for a short while, Gojyo cocked his head to his side and asked.
"Wow, what wind blows you here, saru?" Gojyo teased, taking off his coat and walking towards Goku, who was sitting on the couch. As he neared the youth, he realized how depressed Goku's eyes and expression were. Instantly knowing that something must have happened, Gojyo placed a hand on Goku's head and asked in a worried tone, "Did something happened?"
Surprised that Gojyo actually took him serious, Goku just nodded in reply.
"With that corrupted monk, right?" Gojyo asked again.
Goku nodded again.
"Dinner's ready!" Hakkai chirped. "Ah, Gojyo, you're back!"
"What's wrong with the saru?" asked Gojyo, turning to Hakkai.
"A long story, Gojyo." Hakkai simply replied. "I'll tell you as we have our dinner, Goku would be staying here for the night, is that okay with you?"
"Come on, how can I say no?" Gojyo complained.
They sat around the table and had their dinner together. Hakuryu, being nice sat beside Goku, eating and cheering him up at the same time while Hakkai repeated Goku's reason of being here to Gojyo from the start. When Gojyo gets the story, he also follows Hakuryu in cheering the youth, who had been awfully quiet throughout the meal. Even Hakkai started to cheer him up since he was getting really worried about Goku.
***
After dinner, Goku sat back on the couch and kept quiet. He was actually thinking of what he should do starting from tomorrow. He's going to be alone and learned to be independent after today. However, it's not easy for him to plan since a certain blonde kept entering his thoughts whenever he tried to think.
"Saru, let's play poker to cheer up." Gojyo chirped.
"Eh, but I'm not in the mood to play or do anything… " Goku replied, not even looking up at Gojyo.
Gojyo sighed and Hakkai walked out of the kitchen with a plate of fruits in hand. "Goku, have some fruits."
Absentmindedly picking one from the plate, Goku nodded a 'thanks' before returning to his thoughts.
Exchanging worried glances with each other, Gojyo and Hakkai shrugged and decided let Goku be. Gojyo went to get the newspaper to read, passing the time since the night is still early. As for Hakkai, he sat by the dinning table, finishing up the fruits with Hakuryu.
All of sudden, the apartment's door slam opened, alarming everyone in the house. Turning to the door, they were all shocked to find a drench Sanzo standing at the door. Speechlessly looking at Sanzo who was looking back at him, Goku just stayed where he was, stunned at the sight of Sanzo being here, totally drench.
Apparently, Sanzo had a hard time coming to Gojyo's apartment due to the heavy rain. He had stopped by a shelter as the day turns dark and the rain was blocking his view of the road in front that he was unable to go on. Waited for over one hour for the rain to finally stop, Sanzo's was very frustrated and furious that he had spent so much time just to look for Goku. However, his anger seized when he finally found Goku.
"I knew you'd be here… Goku… "
+++
To be continued…
A/N: Done with another chapter! The story is finally coming to an end, I suppose. Well, hope you like this chapter. Next chapter: Sanzo and Goku to talk things out in order to decide how they go on. I'm glad that you guys like the last chapter, I was afraid that it didn't turn out good. Thanks for the reviews! ^_^